Cloudy Reflections
by queendolfin
Summary: Blood is the hardest stain to remove. Maybe it never washes out.
1. Chapter 1

_The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes._  
><em> He trusts something that can't help him at all.<em>  
><em> Yet he cannot bring himself to ask,<em>  
><em> "Is this idol that I'm holding in my hand a lie?"<em>

_ - Isaiah 44:20 (New Living Translation)_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: Return to Sender<strong>

It wasn't a battlefield.

It was a killing field.

No matter which trumped up superior tried to tell her otherwise, Aria knew that much clearly. When she looked out onto the scene of carnage before her, she knew the difference between a battle and a massacre. Call it a holy war, call it a crusade, the name didn't at all change the essence of the job. It didn't change how much Aria hated the killing.

"Hey!" The supplicating call drew her back to the issue at hand. The speaker looked for all accounts like an adolescent boy. He had a shock of untidy blond hair, dewy blue eyes, and a grin that revealed a mouthful of white teeth. He stood in the middle of bloody destruction. In one hand, he dangled a black-coated man by the neck. "Should I eat you first?"

No, it wasn't a boy. It wasn't the six-or-seventeen-year-old young man whose guise it wore. It was an Akuma. It was the enslaved incarnation of a tortured human soul.

Aria surveyed the Akuma coldly. Her pale eyes slid between its dazzling grin and the helpless Exorcist in its possession. Her head flicked backwards and forwards, eyes checking the ground and marking her opponent. As she readied her body for battle, her mind raced, considering the options. Perhaps activating the Innocence... but that would mean leaving the barrier erected by the Finder behind her. A part of her desperately wished to remain within the safety of the barrier until further backup arrived, but that was impossible. Aria _was_ the backup.

"Toma," Aria snapped at the Finder with her after a fast decision.

The Finder started and stared at the Exorcist for a long, precious second before deactivating the talisman.

The iridescent film protecting them from the chaos outside dissolved in a flash. The smell of blood and rotting flesh almost made her gag, but it was the sound of the Akuma's voice that made her skin crawl.

"Yes!" it celebrated. The terrible snake-like hiss that emerged from the distorted mouth of a good-looking boy made Aria want to clap her hands over her ears.

It was almost harder to fight the Akuma while they hid behind their human disguises. Almost. There was always the upside that while in a human's body, they had a human's limitations. She advantage took the Akuma's temporary incapacity before it transformed to dive for the two disks on the ground, snatching them up and spinning to face the Akuma.

"Too late!" it cackled. But it still wore its human skin. A good sign. Only a very weak Exorcist would die at the hands of a human-shaped Akuma.

"Innocence, Invocate!" Aria intoned. "Sakuya-hime!"

The Akuma growled and its face distorted when Aria's melodic voice reached its ears. A stream of glistening scales erupted from the wide open mouth. It began coiling around the unconscious Exorcist as the body of the boy fell away like a discarded garment. But its retaliation came too late.

A brilliant flash of light followed by a long, drawn out shriek of pain blocked off her sight and hearing, but Aria didn't need them to find her opponent. She darted forward, still blind and deaf, to ensure its defeat.

Toma the Finder sent up a silent prayer.

The Akuma was only Level 1. The fight was over in under a minute.

"No! Curse you!" The Akuma's dwindling voice sounded like an old radio broadcast, complete with clipping, clicks, and jamming. "Damn you, Exorcist! Damn—"

The human shell it left behind was decomposing rapidly. The odor repulsed Aria. She fingered the silver cross insignia pinned to her shirt to focus herself and swallowed hard. It wouldn't help her to fall to pieces.

"Millennia of servitude..." she whispered under her breath. "You're free."

By the time Toma reached the girl, she had already confirmed the vital signs of the Exorcist and propped him up against the rocks.

"Toma," Aria prompted.

He nodded and swung the telephone box off his back.

Aria strapped the two disks to her black leather belt and watched the still unconscious Exorcist as Toma contacted the other parties of dispatched Finders. The brown-haired man looked two times her sixteen years with faint wrinkles around the corners of his eyes and mouth. Other than that, his face was unblemished. The absence of any obvious scarring killed her theory that this was a weak Exorcist. The parasitic-type Innocence that replaced his right arm also indicated otherwise. In her experience, parasitic-types always had a higher synchronization rate, and therefore more power. As interesting as his physical characteristics were, Aria quickly grew impatient. She was getting ready to shake him awake when he finally sputtered, indicating the first obvious signs of life.

"Die, Akuma!" he yowled.

Aria didn't flinch as he attempted to lunge for her neck and fell flat, drained from his short battle with the real Akuma.

Toma did react, dropping the headset and hurrying to support his fallen superior. Aria continued watching from a safe distance of less than a foot away and stroked Sakuya-hime with a gentle finger.

The Exorcist managed to stand with Toma's assistance and leaned against the shorter man, wheezing. His vision seemed to focus on the cool female before him, or at least, on the silver emblem on her chest.

"An Exorcist...?"

Aria scoffed at his slowness, brushed the annoying bangs out of her eyes, and tapped the cross.

His gaze had moved onto the remains of the Akuma. He ventured uncertainly, "Should I thank you for saving me?"

"It was convenient."

He looked bemused by her response.

Toma elaborated, "Our unit was closest when your golem sent the distress signal, Lord Suman." If he hadn't been so burdened, he would have bowed.

"Oh, I see. Thank you," he said humbly with a hint of cheek.

She shrugged ungraciously.

If Aria's rudeness fazed him, he didn't show it. "May I ask the name of my savior?" the man made another amiable attempt at conversation, undaunted by his savior's surliness.

"No." Outside the strain of battle, Aria's voice was lower than the average girl's and husky, though still within the normal range.

The male Exorcist glanced at Toma, who watched the proceedings with unabashed interest, and then looked away in silence.

The wind blew noisily in the absence of human voices. Toma and the target Exorcist shifted uncomfortably.

Aria, however, was perfectly at home in the environment. She examined the landscape while the other two stared at each other. Aria felt marshland wetness in the breeze. The ground under her booted feet was squishy, but not boggy, indicating only slight proximity. Tall marsh grass that was more brown than green reached as high as her knees. A few meters away, the grass had been burned away by either the Akuma's or the Exorcist's attacks. The village people were already crowding in the clearing, salvaging what they could from the ruined huts. Aria saw their haggard expressions of sorrow and resolution clearly from the distance, and she had to look away.

Then she heard the sound of running footsteps coming from behind, and she whirled around in suspicion. Her hands found their way to the weapons on her hips.

"Miss..." A little girl tugged on Aria's pant leg and popped her thumb into her mouth when the older girl fixed her with a blank stare. "Thank you."

Aria didn't relax, but she nodded in acknowledgment.

The girl scurried off, back towards the site of reconstruction.

Aria didn't watch her go. She turned away before any memories could resurface, spotted the pale yellow Finder hoods emerging from the lowland, and strode away without a word. She left Toma and the approaching five Finders to find a dignified way to move the injured Exorcist.

They coped eventually, stringing their cloaks together to make a sort of makeshift sling, befitting for handling dead bodies, but less so for living Exorcists. He didn't seem to mind though. He hummed a lively tune as he bounced up and down to the Finder's rolling gait.

Toma sighed softly as he sloughed through the increasingly watery and muddy ground. If he could admit it, he would have said that he _had_ been looking forward to the return trip because of the prospect of new conversation. From the way things were going, it seemed there would be very little conversation after all. He heaved another aggrieved sigh. This one, Aria could hear even above the rushing wind. She turned, putting a hand up to keep her dark hair from blocking her view.

"Discontent?" she asked. A hint of amusement found its way into Aria's otherwise flat tone.

Toma started and nearly dropped his half-asleep baggage. He recovered gracefully, turning the movement into a very low and more extravagant than normal bow. Aria turned her head away, disgusted. All of the Finders had stopped with her, lined up like some sort of sick honor guard. Perhaps after she spent thirty-odd years on the job, she would find it as natural as the Finders did.

"Not at all, Lady Exorcist," Toma assured. "Working with you is always a pleasure; even better when that work ends in a successful return ho-h-h-" Toma stuttered, before correcting himself immediately, "to headquarters."

Aria opened her mouth to issue a command, and then closed it as the corners of her mouth inched up involuntarily at his kindness. She turned her back on them before they could see and continued walking. The urge to smile disappeared within the next few paces.

To the normal eye, everything was perfectly fine, only a little strange. Who wouldn't find a line of four cars in the middle of a wetland odd? It was exactly the same as when she had arrived not long ago after receiving an urgent call from help from Finders now dead. Those bodies had already been dressed and loaded ceremoniously into the last car. But the problem lay within the foremost cars; the first two reserved for the rescued Exorcist and presumably herself. Aria waited until the Finders and their burden were only a few feet behind her to speak.

"Toma."

Good old Toma, who had accompanied her on so many missions and so was well practiced in understanding Aria's one-to-two-word sentences, bowed in apology. He had not yet learned that Aria hated being bowed to, much easier to see as it was. "It has been quite a while since you returned to Headquarters, has it not?" he said, trotting forward and loading the Exorcist into the back seat with the assistance of his comrades. "Lady Lenalee will be looking forward to seeing you."

How cheap of him to mention Lenalee. It was a token of the time they'd spent together that a Finder was comfortable with manipulating an Exorcist without fearing for his life.

Aria sighed in resignation, her fingers polishing the surface of her weapon. She glanced to the east, the direction of headquarters. The eastern portion of the sky was already a dusky purple.

"We should be back before dawn, milady."

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: DGM (c) Katsura Hoshino<br>Originally posted on both quizilla and lunaescence under the same name (yes, I'm just everywhere.)  
>Here on FF in a much changed form. Better, if I do say so myself. :D<br>Thanks for reading, y'all! Tell me what you think :)

P.S. I always felt for Suman Dark. Let's see what we can do with him ^-^ Understand I'm building his character off the fact that he was childish enough to get sulky when Johnny beat him at chess... so I've taken quite a few liberties, I guess. His part is over for now, but he'll be making a dramatic reappearance (as you all know)  
>That's all for now~ Toodles~<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Black Order Headquarters**

The Black Order Headquarters was, for the moment, silent. Usually, even in the middle of the night, something was going on. Peaceful? Never. Quiet? Ha! Friendly? Double ha! What a pity the nice times never lasted long, and Komui's wonderful nap was nearing its end.

_Snore_

As usual, Komui wasn't in bed at midnight. Instead, he slept soundly on his desk, hand wrapped tightly around a light blue mug of coffee decorated with an (as Aria called it) intoxicated pink bunny. Komui always overindulged in sleeping, his favorite pastime. He shifted in his sleep and softly wailed Lenalee's name, sending the pen he held in his other hand skittering off the table. The pen hit a stack of papers on its way and sent the important documents flying with it.

To Aria's surprise, the soft noise woke Komui, who could sleep through an Akuma attack on HQ. He blinked groggily and yawned, fully prepared to go back to sleep until he caught sight of the top file on the ground. The moonlight from the window fell on the image perfectly, illuminating the girl's eyes with more kindness than truth warranted.

Komui felt his blood pressure surge, and had he held anything besides the precious mug, he would have thrown it at the wall. He swooped down and grabbed the pen before viciously attacking the file, eyes glinting with anger. Komui laughed manically as he defaced his subordinates' hard work.

Aria watched with mild amusement from the shadowy corners of the room, where she'd stood silently since her entrance ten minutes ago. Komui was always so entertaining; he could have taken up acting if he could bear being separated by his precious Lenalee. He was at this moment too busy scribbling on that piece of paper to notice her presence, something she was grateful for. It allowed her to sneak up on him and take a good look at his work.

As Aria had suspected, the pages were from her folder. It was one of the general background files kept by the Black Order. Aria's contained one of the only pictures of her in existence, the other few being buried somewhere deep in her room. But unless the mirror she had consulted early that morning had lied, Aria didn't have a bright blue mustache. Nor did she have horns, a spiked tail, vampire fangs, and a flamethrower for a mouth.

"Lee."

"Eeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaack!" A spasm shook Komui's arm and the pen slashed a jagged blue line across the paper. "A-A-Aria, when did you get back!" Komui stuffed the file into his pocket and laughed loudly, fixing his lopsided hat. "Where's Lenalee? Lenalee!" he bawled, "The devil's come!"

"Quiet." The girl ordered, picking up the pen and replacing it on the desk/mountain of messy papers. "It's late."

As expected, Komui paid her no heed and continued screaming at the top of his lungs about her return.

"Tch," she bit off, sinking back into the darkness of the room. If Aria was lucky, the people residing on the other side of the straight might not hear. She mentally cursed the piping and ventilation system of Headquarters.

"Ah~!" Komui wailed and covered his eyes. "You become more and more like Kanda eve-"

"Quiet, Freak of Nature," she shouted at him. "They will wake up!"

He gave his trademark annoying smile. "Finally more than three words! I'm so hon-"

"What's going on, Brother...? So noisy..." Lenalee entered the room, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and glancing around. Nothing about her had changed in the few months that had passed—the same long hair, the same dark eyes half-closed from sleep, the same small, delicate hands that covered a huge yawn.

Aria stepped out of the shadows.

Lenalee's eyes went wide. Her hands fell. "...Aria?"

"Yo, Xiao Lee."  
>[Xiao Lee - Literally, "Little Lee", but it's how friends address each other in Chinese]<p>

"Don't call my Lenalee 'Xiao Lee'!" Komui cried, oblivious to the atmosphere, "Lenalee, run before you get infected by her anti-social disease and share her curse of dying as a lonely old lady!"

They both ignored him.

"Welcome back," Lenalee finally said, smiling tremulously. "It's late for travelling. I remember it was the same last time you returned. Are you tired?"

"Yes." Aria waved with fake cheer at Komui as she exited his office, Lenalee following. "Good night, Freak of Nature."

Lenalee accompanied Aria silently all the way to her chambers, which were in a completely different direction than Lenalee's. She was perhaps the only person alive whose silence bothered Aria. Well, if Komui could ever stay silent for more than ten seconds, that might have bothered her too, but only because it would have been so very unnatural.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Where have you been?" Lenalee broke the silence first, tiring of ellipses. "I—We were worried..."

Aria remained in a dignified silence as she mulled that one over. 'We' constituted at most two people, Lenalee and Komui, maybe not even that many.

Lenalee went on, "You didn't come back. Anything might have happened. If Suman hadn't gotten into trouble, we wouldn't even know that you're alive..."

"Don't give me that," Aria retorted perhaps a little too tersely. She always reacted badly to guilt tripping. "I've been slaving to your Brother's demands, haven't I? Of course, I was alive."

"Half a year," Lenalee accused, raising her voice. Her eyes turned shiny in the dim light. "Half a year and you never came back even once. The others wanted to file an official complaint. If you hadn't kept that Finder with you, they would have. 'Like master, like apprentice,' they said. Central called. Brother had to defend you, saying that you were still completing your missions, that you hadn't betrayed us."

"Luxembourg," Aria answered suddenly, cutting off Lenalee's tirade.

"You went to...? But..." Lenalee shook herself out of her anger. Her hair rustled, giving off the faint floral scent of shampoo. "I'm sorry I lost my temper. Do you want to talk now?"

"Yes." Aria turned the doorknob and the door swung in easily without a single squeak. Strangely, she stepped on something soft as she entered the dark room and prepared to shut the door. Even more strangely, Aria's second step into the room brought her alongside the _occupied_ bed. "..."

The two friends stared in silence at the white head atop the pillow and the clothes strewn over the floor. A suitcase they could barely make out in the absence of hard light leaned against the wall. Diamonds of moonlight fell on the floor from the screened window, but provided only enough light to illuminate a two-by-three rectangle.

But the details could only distract the pair for so long, and, soon, the problem at hand returned. The problem at hand being a stranger sleeping in Aria's bed. Not, of course, that he was in it with her.

"Ah! All-" Lenalee moved forward to wake the boy, but Aria blocked her friend with an outstretched arm and shook her head slowly. Quietly, she picked up the castoff garments on the floor and draped them across the hardback chair before the writing desk. She smelled something suspiciously like syrup when the cloth shifted.

"Don't," she said softly as not to disturb his sleep, "I'll go."

"You're sure? Okay..." Lenalee closed the door softly after she exited. "We can look for an empty room. No, let's go to my rooms. I have an extra blanket." She started walking down the long hall before Aria even agreed, but she followed without protest.

Like Aria's, Lenalee's room were usually kept impeccably clean by an army of invisible housekeepers. But while Aria's walls and desk were bare, framed photos decorated Lenalee's.

"Can you get the lights?" Lenalee's muffled voice came from the closet.

Obediently, Aria flicked the switch. Then she walked back over to the desk to examine the pictures. Some were of Komui, some of Aria, and the others of the various Exorcists Lenalee had befriended over the years. Aria recognized a few by face. She noticed that one of the picture frames was facedown and lifted it curiously. It was empty.

"You can change into these for starters," Lenalee said, approaching from the left with a pair of pajamas in her arms. When she saw Aria holding the empty frame, she put the clothes on the table and planted her hands on her hips in a stern manner. "_Privacy_, Aria."

Aria replaced the frame on the surface of the desk soundlessly. She ran her fingers over the chipped edge of the wooden frame. "That used to be Allison's picture." Her tone asked a question to which the answer was obvious.

Lenalee blinked quickly. "It was last month. I'm sorry you're finding out like this."

Aria looked at her friend. "I'm all right. What else is new?"

Lenalee understood the young woman too well to take her lie at face value, but she retreated to the closet. "A new recruit came earlier today. Allen Walker. He was apprenticed to General Cross, just like you. I'll introduce you tomorrow."

Slowly, Aria changed into the pajamas and laid her neatly folded clothing on the chair. "The one in my room."

"Yes. He must have been confused by the building. If nothing else, it's a good ice breaker. But I suppose you have your _wonderful_ memories of General Cross for that."

Aria was too worn to laugh.

"Ah—found it!" From the depths of her closet, Lenalee dug out a fluffy comforter, which she spread on the floor and folded over once for a makeshift bed.

"Take the bed," Aria said, giving Lenalee a little push towards the bed and sliding between the layers of blankets. "You're tired." She closed her eyes and turned her face to the wall. She heard the light go out.

The bed creaked as Lenalee got in. Consolingly, she said, "Good night, Aria. We can talk tomorrow instead."

"...Good night."

* * *

><p>This was originally part of chapter 1, but I decided to cut it to chapter 2. There's nothing wrong with shorter chapters, right? Unless you guys like long ones? Well, let me know! Let me know what y'all are thinking, too!<p>

Thanks for reading :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Introductions**

When Aria awoke four hours later, she felt like she'd had only fifteen minutes of rest. Her entire body was stiff and heavy, her throat burned, and her head throbbed. She sat up with difficulty and then flopped right back down. A soft sigh escaped her.

"Aria?" Lenalee's groggy voice made Aria open her eyes again. "You're up? Did you sleep well?"

"More or less," Aria replied huskily. She crawled out from beneath the warm blanket, stifling a yawn. She shook out the white blouse from the day before and wrinkled her nose at the sorry state of it. It was ripped and stained and bloodied and generally unpleasant to look at. Her pair of black pants had fared better. Barely.

Lenalee poked a tousled head out from under the covers, blinking blearily at the standing girl. "Why don't you wear something of mine for now, and we'll go see if Allen's up."

"No micro-skirts," Aria warned.

With a laugh, the sleepy Chinese Exorcist yawned widely and left the warmth of her bed reluctantly. Moving in slow-motion, Lenalee found two sets of clean clothing. To please Aria's conservatism, Lenalee found a Chinese-style blouse and silky black pants in place of the scandalously revealing miniskirts she favored herself.

"Thanks, Xiao Lee."

"What time is it?" Lenalee asked as they changed.

"Almost eight."

"They fit?"

The shirt was fine, but hem of the pants barely hit her ankle. "More or less."

"You grew," Lenalee noted enviously. "I couldn't tell last night when I had my shoes on. I guess that means you had enough to eat in _Luxembourg_."

Aria laced up her own muddy boots. They stank faintly of the marsh, but they would have to do. Lenalee had only one pair of shoes—her equipment-type Innocence, Dark Boots. She placated, "I didn't mean to make you worry. I just needed—"

A loud knock on the door interrupted her.

Lenalee made an apologetic expression and hurried to open it.

"Section Chief Reever," she greeted in surprise. "Good morning. Um..."

"Sorry to bother you," he said hoarsely. "Your troublesome brother said that he won't work until he gets coffee. Johnny brewed some up earlier, but you know how picky he is. He's more agitated than usual this morning." His pale eyes shifted to Aria.

Aria surveyed the chief of the science division. Less than a year had passed since they'd last seen each other, but ten years worth of strain had aged him. He drooped in the threshold. His face sagged from fatigue. Even his weedy yellow hair seemed wilted. The bristles covering his pointed chin only added to the illusion of old age.

"The supervisor was whining about some nightmare. The devil or a demon or something equally terrifying infiltrated HQ last night. Now, I see he meant _this_."

Aria only looked coolly at him.

"Brrr," said Reever sarcastically.

Every member of the science division had a childish streak.

"Okay, I don't think we should keep Brother waiting any longer, Section Chief," Lenalee said in a voice that was shriller than usual. "Aria, will you...?"

"I'll see if he's up," Aria assured her friend with a faint smile. "Don't look so worried. I'll play nice."

They set off down the hallway in opposite directions. Lenalee started on the Section Chief almost instantaneously, and Aria's keen ears caught a snatch of the conversation.

"You weren't acting very nice, Section Chief," Lenalee reprimanded.

"I know; I know... it's the lack of sleep. I swear, the supervisor's gonna work us all to death... make the coffee extra strong, will you?"

The appearance of an elderly man distracted her from the rest of the meaningless banter. He had just exited her room and stood with his back to her, evidently lost. He had very fine white hair that fell to just above his shoulders. His figure was slender to the point of frailty. He was dressed not in the Exorcist coat, but in an outfit similar to Aria's usual attire: a pair of black slacks, a white blouse, and a brown waistcoat. (The waistcoat was an extra.) From his left sleeve protruded a deep red hand whose skin was crinkled and rippled, almost like a burn. She realized belatedly that it was his anti-Akuma weapon.

Aria hadn't expected an old man, much less a parasitic-type whose Innocence usually cut their lifespans sporter. Her frivolous and superficial old master should have called this Allen Walker an old geezer half in his grave and chased him away. General Cross Marian respected only beautiful women.

Then Allen Walker turned to look down the other side of the hall, and Aria saw that his face was innocent and almost child-like. A red tattoo in the shape of a pentagram covered the left side of his face. His clear grey eyes focused on her in turn and his mouth curved into a sheepish smile. "Excuse me," he called, waving her over with his right hand. The pitch of his voice gave away his youthfulness. There was something else about the way he spoke that bothered her. She couldn't place it. "Excuse me."

Aria drew alongside him. She inclined her head politely by way of greeting.

"Sorry, could you help me out a bit? I seem to be lost. I remember going down for a midnight snack last night, and then I got here somehow. I woke up in this room before I knew it. So, um..." his voice faltered. He seemed discouraged by the fact that she made no further acknowledgement of him.

Aria blinked to show she was listening.

"Um," Allen continued. "Could you tell me where this is?"

Amusement flickered across her face. "My rooms."

A look of mixed embarrassment and consternation took over his face. "Your—oh, I didn't realize! I just arrived yesterday, and the layout of the castle is so confusing." Mistaking her silence for anger, he blabbered on, "They haven't gotten around to showing me around, so I wandered into your room by accident. I took a shower before. Um... My name is Allen, by the way. Allen Walker." He extended his right hand and smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

The difference in his manner of speaking became all the more clear when he rushed his words. She realized suddenly that it was his pronunciation that bothered her. Aria's eyes narrowed. Her gaze bored into the middle of his forehead.

Allen's smile faltered. He raised the hand he'd extended to cover the star above his eye. "I'm Cu—"

"British," Aria spat the word out as though it tasted disgusting.

Allen looked taken aback. His grey eyes went wide to contrast hers. "Eh? British? Yes, I am. Why do you—"

Cutting him off yet again, Aria said severely, "Aria Lisle, of France."

"Ah..." Allen trailed off, understanding.

"Ah," Aria confirmed with a curt nod. "Indeed."

Then her stomach grumbled loudly, ruining the effect of her glower.

Allen dared a smile. "You know, I was just getting hungry earlier. But I'm still a little confused by this building. Would you mind showing me to the refectory?"

He was making fun of her. The nerve of him...!

Aria turned on her heel and stalked away. That she happened to be heading down to the refectory was a complete coincidence. She ignored the soft sound of his footsteps behind her.

Luckily for her stomach, the line for food was short. The efficiency of the kitchen and the head cook ensured that even the supremely impatient Kanda Yuu only _sometimes_ got annoyed.

"Aria, hun," the head cook sang out as she approached the window. "I heard rumors you were back. And you've gotten cuter, too. Tell Uncle Jerry what you want."

Aria spared a smile for the Indian cook. She always treated the serving staff with some degree of courtesy. They were, after all, the ones handling her food. The same logic applied to the Finders and cleaning staff.

"No, don't say the usual! And giving me that doubtful look—of course I remember: toast and honey. But you'll die out on the field with that. No, let Uncle Jerry cook you up something special. It'll be up in a jiffy!" He disappeared from the window and true to his word, reappeared in record time with a covered tray in his hands. He winked at her look of curiosity. "Enjoy, hun, and come back to tell your uncle all about the field. Next! Oh—a new one! What'll it be cutie pie? Uncle Jerry can cook anything you want."

Aria walked away quickly, but not before she heard Allen's ridiculous order.

"Anything? Okay! I'll have gratin and potato," said the British accent, "and dry curry and mapo tofu and beef stew and a meat pie and Carpaccio and nasi goreng and chicken potato salad and a scone and tom yam kung and a bowl of rice. Oh, and for dessert I'll have mango pudding and twenty mitarashi dango."

It sounded like he'd requested the entire menu at a multi-ethnic restaurant. Disgusted by his characteristically British gluttony, Aria swept away to enjoy her more reasonably sized meal. She chose a seat at the end of an empty bench, placed her heavy tray on the table, and lifted the lid with restrained eagerness. Knowing her dislike of heavy food, he'd prepared a bowl of steaming rice porridge, topped off with slices of century egg in the shape of a smiley face. Underneath, shredded pickled radish spelled the word _smile_. Aria had to obey. She'd missed Jerry's cooking and his flamboyant ways.

Aria picked up a spoon, scooping up a slice of egg. Her stomach growled loudly, but the noises that echoed in the canteen were a loud shout of rage, a terrifying smash, and the unmistakable sounds of an impending fight. All talking ceased immediately. Tempted as Aria was to sit in relative peace and enjoy her breakfast, she reluctantly let the spoonful porridge plop back into the bowl. She'd picked out a certain someone's angry voice.

Aria gravitated toward the center of the commotion, which was relatively easy to locate. In the midst of Finder—very upset Finders, at that—who had gathered to watch the fight play out, stood two Exorcists.

Actually, _stand_ was too passive a verb to describe the actions of the tall, scowling, black-haired, young man and the shorter, smiling, white-haired slightly younger young man. _Grapple_ or _brawl_ would describe the situation much better.

Aria should have known Kanda Yuu would start something, though she wasn't entirely what he had started. She pushed her way through the crowd to the forefront of the action. Rotating slowly on the spot, Aria turned her calm gaze on the members of the gathered crowd in turn. Quite evenly, she sent them away. "There's nothing to see here."

Muttering resumed. A few brave souls whipped up a quick wager on the outcome of the fight. The smart money was on Kanda.

Said Exorcist didn't even spare Aria a glance until she intervened. Too fast for the eye to see, Aria knocked their hands apart and replaced Allen's grip on Kanda's wrist with her own. "Lay off the newbie, Yuu," she ordered calmly.

The Asian's furious eyes narrowed further and he growled, "I hate your type, too."

Ouch. In a bad mood, was he?

Aria blinked. Slowly, provocatively, she rolled her eyes.

Kanda flipped his arm and twisted, his calloused fingers finding a hold on Aria's thin arm. Aria didn't wince, but would have preferred a crocodile clamped onto her forearm to Kanda's vice-like hold. She held on a moment longer, to show that she wouldn't let go until she herself was good and ready to, and slowly unclenched her long fingers.

"Don't be a bully, Yuu. Haha-ue would be disappointed. She raised you to be better." Her face was a mask of boredom. Her heart pounded hard against the bars of her ribcage like a jailbird intent on a prison break.  
>[Haha-ue – Mother]<p>

Taciturn and surly, Kanda never engaged in fight banter. He went in directly for the kill. His fingers closed around her neck with bruising force.

"Stop!" cried Allen, thrusting his arms between them. He looked close to invocating.

An image of Suman Dark in the Akuma's death hold flashed before her eyes. Was that how she looked now, as helpless as a ragdoll in Kanda's grip?

"Sororicide," she gasped out.

"Your lies tire me. I'll make sure you never speak a single more..." Kanda threatened, his shaking hand tightening on Aria's pale neck.

She knew it was a bluff. He could have already easily crushed her windpipe. Still, the dark shadows crowding out her vision worried her slightly. Vaguely, she was aware of Allen persistently trying to make peace.

Suddenly, Kanda pitched forward, a loud clacking sound resounding over his head. Lenalee stood over him, her clipboard in place to hit his crown several more times. She looked exasperated. "Jeez, that's the second time you've tried to kill your comrades this week," she said with a stern expression. "You should learn to relax."

A noise rather like a lion's predatory roar resonated deep within Kanda's chest as he released Aria. "Che!" he muttered, picking up his tray and relocating.

"Tch," replied Aria, massaging her throat. She sat at the long refectory bench quickly before her legs could give out.

"Brother wants to see you!" Lenalee called loudly after his retreating figure.

She turned back to the two more level-headed Exorcists, slightly abashed.

"Sorry about him," Lenalee said to Allen with an apologetic half-smile. "He's hot-headed but essentially a good person." She continued, though Allen did not look at all convinced, "Aria, too, is just a little...well..." The black-haired girl trailed off with a concerned glance at her friend. "What happened, Aria? I can see Kanda's fingerprints on your skin."

"It was nothing," Aria replied pointedly. She didn't try to stand. Her legs still felt like jelly.

"If you say so," she said dubiously. "I'd take you to the infirmary, but you should use this time to eat. Brother wants to see the two of you in ten minutes," she explained to Aria's questioning look before departing in a hurry.

Aria flicked a look in Allen's direction. _The two of us? And Yuu? _This boded ill.

Allen noticed her irritated attention on him and tried to guess its source. "Ah. Um... I finished eating already. Please, don't worry about me holding us back. Where's your food? Shall I get it for you?" he babbled on without pause.

Though this servile attitude befitted a Brit, Aria had no intention of accepting his help. Still, she wasn't willing to risk making a fool of herself if her trembling legs couldn't take her weight. "I have no appetite. My meal will taste bad after such a large commotion."

"Kanda just now said, 'My food tastes bad when you're talking about dead people.' I believe some men were talking about a fallen comrade."

Aria shook her head in disbelief. So that was how he'd started it. Of course, mourning Finders would take offense. It was a shame that she'd inherited all the tact in the family. Following that train of thought, she explained the similarity Allen had perceived, "We are brother and sister."

Instant shock. "You're—"

"I'm amazed you can lie so much," a hoarse voice said, brimming with annoyance.

Aria turned her face up in time to see a study brown clipboard identical to Lenalee's thump on her forehead.

The sleep-deprived Reever frowned at her. "If Kanda were here," he said warningly, "you'd have breathed your last breath."

"Yes," agreed Aria. "He did try."

"Eh?" exclaimed Allen, "It was all a lie?"

"Of course. But never mind that now," Reever told Allen dismissively. "Come with me, both of you. The supervisor needs to see you."

"I thought we had ten minutes," Allen said with a hint of apprehension. The countdown to the apocalypse had just skipped forward.

"He's a fickle thing," Reever said of the supervisor. Then, the truth came out. "And... Kanda's already there."

Aria let out an involuntary sigh. That meant no breakfast for her, then. She should have ordered to-go. If Jerry found out about the wasted food, he'd go into a sulk. Still lamenting over the lost meal, Aria got to her feet. She didn't immediately embarrass herself by fainting, either.

"Lead on," she said to the worn-looking man, making a magnanimous gesture.

* * *

><p>I've decided I like this new revised version much better. Aria was too cruel and Allen to... eh, Allen's a funky character, IMHO I believe at this point in the story, Allen is in his <em>humble, polite, and not to mention self-righteous <em>mode, which I confess, annoyed me greatly in the beginning. I warmed up to him, though. As you see, I'm given to rambling about pointless points.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave a few comments :)


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